Nada Brahma Sound Is Divine

Saturday, June 4, 2016

The Six Ways





Hell:
Bright autumn moon --
pond snails crying
in the saucepan.
 
The Hungry Ghosts:
Flowers scattering --
the water we thirst for
far off, in the mist.
 
Animals:
In the falling of petals
they see no Buddha,
no Law.
 
Malignant Spirits:
In the shadow of blossoms,
voice against voice,
the gamblers.
 
Men:
We humans --
squirming around
among the blossoming flowers.
 
The Heaven Dwellers:
A hazy day --
even the gods
must feel listless.
 
~ Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), whose name means "a single bubble in steeping tea" is famous for his hundreds of haiku and poems about the smallest of life's creatures -- the tiniest insects.
Above he wrote of the 6 realms of existence and rebirth in Buddhist cosmology.